"John! John, wake up!" John gave a low moan as he blinked his eyes open. He had a splitting headache, and his body felt stiff. He opened his eyes to see Rubellite's face, etched with worry. "John, why are you in the Containment Room? What happened?" She asked hurriedly, helping John to his feet. He stood still for a moment, blood pounding in his head. It took him another moment to remember what had happened; Letting Hematite out, Hematite running and letting another Gem out, and that Gem ramming him into the wall. "John?" Emerald placed his hand on John's shoulder, crouching down so he was face to face with the boy. "Are you alright?" He asked. John nodded. Aside from the amount of trouble he was going to get into, he was okay. "..John." John looked up at Topaz, who was further away, looking around the room. "... Where's Hematite." He asked, his voice soft. His tone was not a happy one. John gulped and shifted a little. "I..." He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times. "... I let him out." He mumbled, unwilling to meet Topaz's eye. "...Why?" john stared at the floor, silent. "John, why?" "...I wanted answers." he mumbled. "I can't hear you John." John took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and looked up at Topaz. "I wanted answers." "So you released a dangerous rogue gem? Why didn't you just come to us?" "I tried to! But you guys just shrugged it off and said you'll 'Tell me when I'm older'! I'm not seven anymore! I wanna know why Hematite called you Rebels!" He flung his arms out towards the bubbles that surrounded them. "And are these all Gems like you!? Why are they in bubbles?!" He asked angrily. Topaz silently stared at John, his face blank behind his black glasses. "What, are you just gonna silently stare at me!?" He dropped his hands back to his sides. He stared at Topaz, looking for any emotion at all; There was none as he spoke. "...Go to your room John." He said after a minute, turning slightly to look at the bubbles. "No." John growled back. "We'll talk in the morning." John didn't move, clenching his fists. Topaz stared at him from the corner of his yellow-orange eyes. "John..." Rubellite gently tugged on his sleeve. "Come on John, let's go upstairs.." She said. "You've had a long day... and you've got a nasty bump on your head. So let's head upstairs, hmm?" She asked. John silently pulled away from her, and went to stand by the door. He followed her out silently.
John didn't stay at home long. Before Emerald and Topaz came up from the Containment Room, he left the house, heading out into town. He knew that that would make Topaz more angry, but at that moment he didn't care. He didn't really care where he went, he just wanted out of the house. He had always known that the gems weren't human, but he never knew just what they were. And the broken gems... Why were they under the house? What was with the whole 'Rebel' thing? John kicked a rock out into the street, and shoved his hands into his pockets. He hadn't seen Jade in a while. Maybe he could go find her house, and spend the afternoon with her. The only problem there was that he didn't know where her house was; He knew it was out beyond the town borders, but that was it. And that was a fair length to walk. But it wasn't like he wanted to go home at the moment. After a moment's though, he adjusted his direction, to head in the general direction he knew Jade's home was in.
"We have kinda kept him in the dark..." Emerald said. After checking the house and the yard for John, the three of them had headed back inside to the kitchen. Topaz was at the table, one hand on his forehead. "...Humans are frail Emerald." He said. "...I don't want John to be in danger." He sighed. "John wouldn't get hurt, we'd be there to prevent that." "You weren't able to protect him when Hematite kidnapped him." Topaz said quietly, lowering his hand. "We weren't expecting that Topaz. It was a one in a million chance." Rubellite protested. "It still happened."
John continued down the street; a light drizzle of rain had started up, plastering his hair to his head. There was no side walk, so he was tromping along the side in ruts and ditches. He was careful not to stray into the road. He had been walking for a half hour, and still no sign of her home, or a mail box marked 'Harley' or anything like that. Was it possible she lived really far out? But then why would she have walked that far into town? He walked past a corner; Along the length of it were a few drive ways. He looked at each of the mailboxes; Yes! The last one said Harley. He turned down the dirt drive way, thankful for the trees that covered it. He shook his head, sending stray water droplets everywhere. He continued down the road, head down, until something cold against his forehead stopped him. He looked up to stare straight down the barrel of a gun.
The man behind the gun coughed. "Who might you be?" He asked. A couple of dogs barked, and Harley ran past the man and knocked John over. He licked John's face as the other dog, a white puppy with longer fur, padded up. "Harley stop!" John cried, pushing the dog off of himself. Harley yapped, prancing around John. The man lowered his gun a little. "Come with me." He said, turning around and setting his gun across his shoulder. John slowly stood up, and followed the older man down the pathway "...Are you Jade's Grandpa?" John asked after a few minutes. "Hm? Yes, I am her Grand Father. If you know Jade, then you must be John." He said, twirling the end of his thick mustache. John nodded. "Well, what brings you all the way out here, in the rain I might add!" "I wanted to see Jade." He said, pulling his hand away from Harley's cold nose. "well you're in luck, she's still at home."
The two of them walked across the wet dirt, the two dogs barking and chasing one another. Jade's Grandpa informed him that the smaller dog's name was Becquerel. "Harley ran off one day, and came back a week later with him in tow. Bec was skittish at first, but he eased in quickly." He said before nodding with his head to the house. Harley barked once and ran towards the unusual house. The bottom half was that of a normal house, but a tower topped with a sphere rose from the top. Mr. Harley opened the door. John followed him in, looking around the quaint room. Two couches sat in the middle, facing toward the fireplace at the opposite end. Mr. Harley clicked his tongue, and pointed to a set of stairs. "Harley, take John to Jade." At the mention of Jade, Harley's ears perked up, and he dashed toward the stairs. At a little encouragement from Mr. Harley, John followed the dog. Harley led him up into the tower, the two of them closely followed by Becquerel.
Harley bounced up the stairs, stopping at a door. He scratched at it, huffing.
There was a quiet shuffle inside, and after a moment the door opened.
"John? What are you doing here?!" She laughed, darting forward to hug him.
"It's been a bit, so I figured I'd come visit!" John said as she let go.
"Yay! Now I can show you around the woods, come on!"
Life certainly has a way of slowing things down, darnet.
Sorry about how late this was! I've got a bit more of an idea of where I'm going now, so it should speed up a smidge hopefully (If life doesn't get in the way)
At guest: Yeah I couldn't find any fanfic for this either XP
And I don't plan on giving up yet!
I'm out til next time! *Ollies outie*